While no dates have been set, contractors have now been identified to help remove the remaining base of the Northport wind turbine tower. The turbine fell in December 2022 due to high wind gusts and severe weather, and members from Leelanau Energy, the nonprofit responsible for its maintenance and operation, have been working to set up an action plan to move forward since the incident.
Team Elmer’s Crane Service and Michigan Towers, a wireless communications contractor, will assist in the debris removal. Doug McInnis, a Leelanau Energy founding member, shared the cleanup update at the Northport Village Council’s regular meeting on Sept. 12., adding that he wanted to address the questions received recently regarding its removal.
McInnis said they looked at different opportunities and whether it was more logical for the tower to be repaired or replaced, coming to the conclusion that it needed to be removed altogether.
“That replacement didn’t make economical sense, so the next step was to get the site cleaned up, so to speak. So I have been working on that goal…We don’t have days at this point in time, but at least we found people who are willing to do this work,” McInnis said at the meeting. “Michigan Towers will have a crew climb the tower and provide lifting rigs for Elmer’s. The tower crew will remove the bolts attaching the two tower sections and assist Elmer’s in removing the upper section. Same with the lower section. Elmer’s will then send trucks and a welding crew to cut the tower into shippable sections and drop it off to Beacon Recycling in Traverse City.”
According to Northport Village Manager Jim Dyer’s monthly report, the Department of Public Works (DPW) supervisor will make an informal evaluation of the appropriate method and the expected cost to remove the pole. While the Village of Northport is not responsible for the cost of the tower removal, the report said that the information is necessary to plan further action that the village may take concerning the situation.
“I did authorize the DPW department to ‘clean up’ the existing mess at the hilltop site. However, this debris and clean up was not related to the wind turbine collapse. This work involved the removal of a shed and campsite, erected by unknown persons and without Village Authorization, at the site. The wind turbine ownership group is not responsible for this work,” Dyer said in his report.
The initial goal of the Leelanau Energy project was to build a wind turbine that would support the electrical needs of the Northport Leelanau Township Wastewater Treatment Plant at no cost to the village. The actual location, “Village Hill” is approximately 500 feet southwest of the facility. The turbine was producing about 110,000 kWh per year (or about 15,000 kWh per month), which was enough energy to power about one-half of the electricity needs of the treatment plant or about 10 homes annually.
